The Eternal Tippmann vs. Spyder Debate

OK, let's get this started. First, DO NOT post a reply stating simply "Spyders are better". That just pisses everyone off. Give us actual reasons. WHY is Tippmann better than Spyder? Convince the other guys. Now, which is better: Tippmann or Spyder?

For when the One Great Scorer comes,To write against your name,He marks ---not that you won or lost---But how you played the game.--- Grantland Rice

The opperating systems while similar in function on Spyders have a tendency to jam due to the stacked-tube design. If either the bolt or hammer hit a dry spot or the tolerances are too loose one may cock itself slightly in the receiver putting anded friction to the system slowing it down or stoping it completly. Which is why these marker generally require more oil and goe through more o-rings than an in line setup.

OK, let's get this started. First, DO NOT post a reply stating simply "Spyders are better". That just pisses everyone off. Give us actual reasons. WHY is Tippmann better than Spyder? Convince the other guys. Now, which is better: Tippmann or Spyder?

Tippmans are naturally guns made for woodsball and scenario play. They have the reliability, looks, upgrades, and feel that a true woodsball player would want in his gun.

Spyders are more for speedball they have better electronics and rof. But thne again Spyders arent that reliable, and dont have great accuracy.

Truthfully i play speedball and i would take a tippy with and egrip over a spyder anyday. But then again i havent tried spyders new line of guns like the 08 pilot and electra so spyder may have something there.

In the end it really comes down to personally prefrefference

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spyders are better than tippy's because kingman actually has taken their markers somewhere. the 98 has always been the 98. internally it has barely changed, only a few outside aesthetics such as the addition of rails on the platinum series. the spyders have gone from the AMG which is basically an e-frame on a mech spyder, to the VS series, that are low pressure, have eyes etc, and finally to the 08 Electra, that basically comes completely ready to play: feedneck, on/off, eyes, magnetic trigger, PSP 3shot, lp, the works. tippman has just not moved anywhere. the cyclone and RT are progress, but not nearly on the scale spyder has had.

though tippy's have legendary reliability (look at the pro-carbine, you can drag it through a swamp with an atv and it would still shoot) spyders are not unreliable markers. actually they are very reliable because of their simplicity. you have one 0-ring to lube, that you can access in about 10 seconds, with no tools. and frankly if you can;t take care of your marker you shouldn't have one.

and lastly it is estimated that about 33% of all paintball players have bought a spyder. thats what i call huge market share.

Okay...
My first gun was a spyder imagine '04. It sucked balls! Out of the two years I had it, it shot well maybe 3-4 times. It chopped, had barrel breaks, constantly had to be fixed, and was over all a piece of crap. A few months ago I bough my step dad a tippmann 98. It is waaaaay better than the spyder. In 2-3 cases it has NEVER chopped one ball and hasn't had even one barrel break. It is super tough and reliable. Thats what I have concluded from my experience. Tippmann over Spyder.

the question is what kind of hopper were you using? agitated or force fed? because if you have blowback problems (as many spyders do) an agitated hopper will not work as well as a force feed as it does not physically force the ball down. also in your comparison you do not mention the fact that the imagine is electronic, ans can shoot up to 14bps i believe, and the tippmann is mech (unles you bought an e-grip or RT) which means you can't shoot much faster than 5 or 6 bps on a good day. the simple fact is that these two markers are not a good comparison because they have completely different performance.

MY tippmann after 4 years has never failed me. My ol' spyder xtra blew it's air line while I was screwing in the CO2. ( I switched over to N2, don't worry. lol) tippmanns are rock solid. That's why I love them. If your going to play airball with one, get a spyder.

"now all you need is some god awful "hater" barrel wrap, some bandana/ sandanna with something douchie that says "night night sucker" or something on it." - best advice given to an upcoming speedballer.

IMO tippmanns are better. More reliable, dont chop as much, easier to take apart. Yes, spyders are better for speedball but if you really wanted to you could make a speedball 98 that could also be used for the woods. My tippmann has never broke down on me while my spyder always has something wrong. Theres my .02

FIRST, there is no speedball or woodsball gun. Just which one will perform reliably and consistently.

I think Tippmann's are better. I would take a 98 to a day of play before I would a Spyder. Why? Tippmann's are just cool.

Tippmann pistol FTW!

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tippmann easier to take apart? are you joking? you can pop the internals out of a spyder in two movements that take 10 secs at the most. i doubt tippmanns have a tool less basic field strip that takes less than 10 sec. i've actualy popped out my bolt and pulled a squeegee through my spyder during a woodsball game. i doubt you could do that on a tippy.

My first gun was a spyder sonix pro.... which i conceed, is a super low end spyder. but i'd still rather use my A-5 in a speedball game that that piece of crap. But in anythnig other than the woods, tippys are pretty much usless, even if they are better that a $100 paper weight spyder.

"tippmann easier to take apart? are you joking? you can pop the internals out of a spyder in two movements that take 10 secs at the most. i doubt tippmanns have a tool less basic field strip that takes less than 10 sec. i've actualy popped out my bolt and pulled a squeegee through my spyder during a woodsball game. i doubt you could do that on a tippy. "
You wouldn't ever have to field strip a tippmann 98. lol

I've seen people play with rental 98c that are 7 years old and still working.

"now all you need is some god awful "hater" barrel wrap, some bandana/ sandanna with something douchie that says "night night sucker" or something on it." - best advice given to an upcoming speedballer.

My A5 has never failed me, and its quiet too (for a spring based high pressure poppet valve gun)
Ive used it (with many ups) in a division 2 tourney, and it blew away shockers dm5's, and ego6's. to this day, it is the backup to my proto m8

ok now i have shot both i no witch one has better stuff ect.
i like the tippmann. i like it for itz looks, customization, accuracy, FLATLINE, E grip, and comfortable.
i have used a tippmann with cyclone feed sp barral and e grip and pwned people in speedball and woods
YES SPEEDBALL the E grip relly brings up the game in tippmanns so overall tippmann.

ok now for spyders not really that customizable with the machanical ones have a tonnn of kick i mean i sware i blink every time i shoot one of these thing not jokeing. on the other hand the electronic ones the rocking trigger amaizing super light pull although i head it has 2 contact points so you cant use it in torniments thats just what i heard though. i also dont like how i see every body with elbows on the spyders because of the feed neck. the gun overall is very reliable. it has cool color disine on some of them as the tippmanns really only come in black i gess because of the tippmann woods ball thing.
well thats my review and i go with tippmann all the way more bang for your buck cause you can turn it into anything you want

Ok Heres My 2 cense. My friend has the new 98 with the double trigger and the upgraded barrel. I have a spyder MR1 ( My woodsball gun Which i Love. However i Know tippman a-5s are better But i love my spyder). He let me use his gun in a woodsball game and it shot very well, Did not Have Any problems and it had great accracy. He was sueing my MR1 and he said the same thing about it that i just said about his tippman But he loved how much lighter it was than his tippman. ( this was the stock MR1 at the time). Well I see that u guys say that Spyders are easier to break and cannot take punishment. But my MR1 Has been dropped on concret twice well i shudnt say dropped but more like someone pushed me on accident xD and it got like thrown and the other time it fell was wen i tripped in the parking lot of the course x.x... also its been just beat up with sooo many scratches that it looks like it wudnt work But it works just like a new one would. He just got his tippman so idk wut its like...

My personal prefrance is spyder. proably cause i own one... But I plan on Buying a Tippman 98 in the future probably because of what i read on them.

They are both good gun brands... and they both are keep growing.

Also I think tippmans dont have as many models because well they dont need them Just look at all the people with a-5s and 98s There happy and very pleased with it arent they? so why get rid of what people like and Make a gun that no one likes?

when i previously mentioned field stripping my spyder while in the field to squeegee it it was not because of any of the markers defects, but because i had a barrel break, which are caused by the paintball and not the marker. on a newer spyder you can just pop out you bolt and run a squeege through your entire breech and barrel. there is no way you can do that with a tippmann.

to the claims that tippmans are super customizable, spyders are exceptionally customizable too. go over to the kingman forum on PBN and take a gander at the spyder of the month thread.

Spyders are better because of cost + Features. They break down more than tippmanns(depending on owner of course) but you can fix just about any of the parts easily on them too, quick fixes, same as tippmann. Spyder clones are probably the best, because of cost vs. features, and they use a lot more standard paintball stuff generally. Tippmann make a great, reliable product, but the price for what features you get is ridiculous compared to spyder, lets face it... And any problem a spyder has I can fix quick. for the cost/features, why not. And there are tons of parts on the market for really cheap, you could buy an old working spyder just for parts for like nothing right now, where tippmann's have retained their value better over the years.

Why are tippmanns better? One reason, reliability. Nothing else matters if your marker doesn't work. I never had a single problem with my 98's or a5's. Not one single chopped ball or mechanical problem. I could count on one hand how many times I've seen a tippmann go down during play. I couldn't count how many times I've seen people leaving the field with spiders that aren't working. If you need a reason to choose between the two go to your local field (or any field) and see how many spider rentals they have.

tippmann easier to take apart? are you joking? you can pop the internals out of a spyder in two movements that take 10 secs at the most. i doubt tippmanns have a tool less basic field strip that takes less than 10 sec. i've actualy popped out my bolt and pulled a squeegee through my spyder during a woodsball game. i doubt you could do that on a tippy.

On my A-5 I can remove the tombstone & pull two quick strip pins & have my internals out in under 10 seconds as well.

My A-5 is 18 months old, the previous owner had it just as long - not a single issue for either of us. The Ape e-grip claims 25+ bps I think, which isn't shabby (my pre-was is at 13, good luck running thru that). As far as customization - it depends on what you are upgrading. There are enough aesthetic upgrades for the 98/A-5/X7 to bury a small country. Spyder, as much as the modders may try, can't compete in that area. As far as internals, tests have concluded that there aren't really any worthwhile upgrades for the tippy internals (w/ the exception of the cyclone) - while the Spyder can be upgraded.

I am in no way a tippmann fan boy, nor do I have any grand dilusions that they are the greatest marker of all time. I can easily admit that there are a large number of better performing markers out there, and some of them may be made by Spyder. But for me & my experiences, my A-5 is my choice, because in the end it's all about personal preference.

only one real choice.....SPYDER i rock an MR2 w/ eyes never chops, every accurate, reliable, .......Yes I know that spdyer makes cheap models, but there is more models than tippwomans wich is helping the industry grow........ but that just my opinion

tippmann markers are also good for speedball, if you dont believe me, search tippmann effect, they used to shoot 98 customs with e-grips. So ok, maybe they are not the coolest guns on the field, but they can easily reach high bps, with little to no maintenance at all.